Chapter 7: The Ethics of

Job Discrimination
 Learning Objectives:
• Describe the legal climate and key legal • Analyze discrimination using utilitarian,
decisions that have affected how rights-based, and justice-based arguments
discrimination in the workplace is viewed. • Examine the policy of affirmative action
• Analyze the nature of Job Discrimination from practical, legal, and moral points of
base on study of intentional, unintentional, view
individual and institutional forms
• Outline the extent of employment
discrimination by making comparisons
among groups

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1. Discrimination
-Is the wrongful act of distinguishing illicitly among people
not on the basis of individual merit, but on the basis of
prejudice or some other invidious or morally reprehensible
attitude.

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 Glass Ceiling is a barrier transparent
Job Discrimination
yet so strong that it prevents women in the Philippines
from moving up the corporate
hierarchy. ◎ Age Discrimination
◎ Disability Discrimination

Affirmative Action refers to any policy that's ◎ Sexual Orientation

intended to promote opportunities for ◎ Status as a Parent
members of historically disadvantaged ◎ Religious Discrimination
groups, for example, job applicants with
◎ National Origin
disabilities and candidates of color. –
◎ Pregnancy
-The aim is to level the playing field, ◎ Sexual Harassment
especially in the areas of employment, ◎ Race, Color, and Sex
business and education.
◎ Reprisal / Retaliation
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 Affirmative Action
◎ The origins of the term come from President Kennedy's 1961 executive order
on equal employment opportunity.
◎ Forbids employers to discriminate against individuals because of their race,
color, religion, sex, or national origin in decisions regarding hiring, firing,
compensation or other forms of employment.
◎ The idea behind Affirmative Action requirements is that, by promoting
interactions across people of different groups, stereotypes against minority
groups will decrease, and thus, in the long run, so will discrimination.

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Affirmative Action
◎ Several companies have implemented affirmative action
policies as part of their business models. But the practice is
controversial, with some commentators claiming that it's
really just discrimination in reverse.

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Policy of Affirmative Action
◎ LEGAL ASPECT OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
◎ Affirmative action is legal when used to correct a racial or sexual
imbalance that is the result of previous discrimination, or to
correct an egregious, persistent and manifest racial imbalance
◎ Affirmative action cannot overrule seniority and cannot be used
in government set-aside programs except as a last resort in an
extreme case involving previous racial bias by the government.

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Policy of Affirmative Action
◎ Societal Aspects of Affirmative Action
◎ Affirmative action/programs are used to protect and give equal
opportunities to underrepresented.
◎ Compensation Arguments for Affirmative Action
◎ Affirmative action is based on the concept of compensatory
justice.
◎ Compensatory justice implies that people have an obligation to
compensate those whom they have intentionally and unjustly
wronged.
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Policy of Affirmative Action

◎ Compensation Arguments for Affirmative Action

◎ Affirmative action is based on the concept of compensatory
justice.
◎ Compensatory justice implies that people have an obligation to
compensate those whom they have intentionally and unjustly
wronged.
◎ Preferential treatment provides compensation.

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 Policy of Affirmative Action

◎ Utilitarian Argument for Affirmative Action

◎ Utilitarians have claimed that affirmative action programs are
justified because such programs promote the public welfare.
◎ It claims affirmative action reduces need by benefiting minorities
and women in need, and so increases utility.
◎ It is criticized on grounds that it costs outweigh its benefits and
that other ways of reducing need will produce greater utility.

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Policy of Affirmative Action

◎ Equal Justice Argument for Affirmative Action

◎ It claims affirmative action will secure equal opportunity by a
fairer distribution of jobs, by neutralizing the effects of
unconscious bias that affects judgements about minorities and
women, and by placing women and minorities in less
disadvantaged and more competitive positions in competitions
with males.
◎ It claims affirmative action is morally legitimate means for
securing equal opportunity.
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 “
Discrimination is not morally
neutral

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 Forms of
Discrimination
Intentional; Unintentional; Individual; Institutional

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Forms of Discrimination
Intentional Discrimination Individual Discrimination
-Is conscious and deliberate -Is the discrimination of one or a
discrimination. few individuals acting on their own.
Unintentional Discrimination Institutional Discrimination
-Discrimination that is not -Is discrimination that is the result of
consciously or deliberately sought, the actions of all or many of the
but is brought about by stereotypes people in an institution and of their
or as an unintended outcome. routine processes and policies.

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 Institutional and
Individual and
Discriminatory Actions Unintentional
Unintentional
A discriminatory act
Individual and An act of discrimination
may be the result of the
Institutional and may be the isolated act
Intentional of a single or few
institutionalized routines
Intentional of a corporate
A discriminatory A discriminatory act
individuals who
organization whose
act may be the unintentionally
may be part of the procedures and practices
isolated act of a discriminates against
routine institutional discriminate against
single individual women or minorities
behavior of a group women or minorities
because the individual
who intentionally that intentionally unintentionally; that is
has unconscious
discriminates out discriminates without anyone in the
stereotypes about the
of personal because of the shared organization consciously
abilities of women or
prejudices of its intending that result
prejudice. minorities, perhaps
members.
absorbed from
surrounding society

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 Extent of
Discrimination

A PRIMA FACIE indication of

discrimination exists when a
disproportionate number of the
members of a certain group are in the
less desirable positions within the
institution, despite their preferences
and abilities.

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 Desirable Occupation Comparison

Women
Men
-Secretary
-Mechanics
-Teacher
-Electrical power-
-Receptionist
line workers
-Dental Assistants
-Crane operators
-Child-care workers
-Engineer
-Hairdresser

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Arguments Against Discrimination
Utilitarian Argument Justice-based
Discrimination leads to Rights-based
-Discrimination results in
an in efficient use of Discrimination violates basic
unjust distributions of
human resources, but human rights by holding
opponents reply that benefits and burdens
minorities and women as
some forms of according to John Rawls, and
inferior assigning them lower
discrimination may it violates the formal
social and economic
actually benefit society. principle of equality by
positions; discrimination
differentiating among people
cannot be universalized
on the basis of characteristics
that are not relevant to job
performance.

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Kamsahamnida!

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